A Strategy for Operationalizing Privacy by Design

Recent controversies surrounding privacy have sparked a move by regulators toward the idea of privacy by design (PbD), a concept pioneered by Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian. Industry has also started to recognize the importance of taking privacy seriously, with various PbD corporate initiatives currently underway. However, some commentators have criticized PbD for being too vague. Using three case studies and a range of best practice examples of PbD, privacy impact assessments (PIAs), and privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), this article addresses the gap between the abstract principles of PbD and their operationalization into more concrete implementation guidelines for software engineers.     

Creating value in ecosystems: Crossing the chasm between knowledge and business ecosystems

Policy makers take initiatives to stimulate knowledge ecosystems in technology hotspots. It is implicitly assumed that these ecosystems will lead to value networks through which the participating companies can realize a competitive advantage. Value networks refer to business ecosystems where the value proposition is offered by a group of companies which are mutually complementary. The strategy literature suggests that business ecosystems lead to competitive advantages for each of the partners in the ecosystem. Based on a unique hand-collected database of 138 innovative start-ups in the region of Flanders, we analyze the knowledge and business ecosystem and the financial support network. We find that the knowledge ecosystem is well structured and concentrated around a number of central actors while the business ecosystem is almost non-existent at the local level. Further, we find that the financial support network is almost 100% publicly backed and fails to bridge the knowledge and business ecosystem. The implications for policy makers who tend to focus on the development of local ecosystems are discussed.     

The impact of childhood foster care and other out-of-home placement on homeless women and their children

OBJECTIVE: This study compares homeless women who had childhood histories of foster care or other out-of-home placement to those who have not. METHOD: A countywide probability sample of homeless women (n = 179) received structured interviews. RESULTS: One-third of homeless women reported being raised apart from their parents. Among women with children under age 18, most (61.5%) had children who had lived in foster care or other out-of-home placements. Variables associated with homeless mothers' children living in foster care or other out-of-home placements were: Child was school-age, mother was age 35 or older, mother had a current alcohol or drug use disorder, mother experienced childhood sexual abuse, and mother ran away from home (when under age 18). CONCLUSIONS: Parenting is difficult for homeless mothers who may need to place their children with others to facilitate school attendance. Parent-child interaction may be problematic in family shelters where privacy is rare. Thus, programs promoting family preservation for homeless mothers should provide parenting support as well as permanent housing.     

Teachers and Speech and Language Therapists Working with Children with Physical Disabilities: Implications for Inclusive Education

Jannet A. Wright and Myra Kersner, senior lecturers in the Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, consider the practical implications of recent policies for teachers and speech and language therapists working together in inclusive settings. Their conclusions complement McCartney's ideas in the previous article.     

Bystander Behaviour Among Italian Students

This paper reports the Italian data on the bystanders' project. In the last decade, several studies have been conducted on the prevalence and nature of bullying among primary and secondary students as well as on individual and social risk factors, illustrating that bullying in the Italian context is a widespread phenomenon. No research has been conducted, so far, on the 'bystander' behaviours of those students who see other peers being bullied or bullying others in school either physically, verbally or through sexual coercion (i.e. touching girls). The study was conducted with 594 students (51.9% boys and 48.1% girls), aged 12–16 years old, with a mean age of 13.1 (SD=0.87). They were recruited from six different middle schools, two in each of three different sites in Italy: Northern Italy (Vercelli), Central Italy (Rome) and Southern Italy (Catania). Results showed that though the most likely reaction is supporting the victim by trying to discourage the bully, gender differences emerged, with girls more likely than boys to support the victim and boys more likely to encourage the bully or simply ignore. Differences resembling the same pattern emerged also with regard to own involvement as a bully or a victim. Findings are discussed by looking at possible applications for intervention.     

The impact of electric overhead radiant heating on the indoor environment of historic churches

The impact of electric overhead radiant heaters on the microclimate, air flows, transport and deposition of suspended particulate matter (SPM) was monitored between March 2004 and March 2005 in the historic churches of Saint Michael Archangel in Szalowa and Saint Catherine in Cracow (Poland). The measurements show that although irradiation at the floor level increases temperature and reduces relative humidity in the interior of the church, the effect out of the heated zone and for the surfaces sheltered from irradiation is very limited, i.e. their extent is comparable with natural fluctuations inherent to the local climate of the church. The radiant heaters proved to generate little convectional flow of the air. Therefore, the heating system was not found to increase the concentration of SPM indoors; in particular, no re-suspension of particles already present in the church was observed. This work has demonstrated that the overhead radiant heaters are capable of providing localised heat to the areas where people congregate without adversely affecting painted walls and the works of arts displayed in churches. Care, however, should be taken that sensitive works of art are not exposed to the direct infrared radiation.